This was an explosive hiring cycle in the SEC.
All eyes were on Lane Kiffin as he chose between Ole Miss, LSU and Florida. The Gators quickly moved on Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, and Ole Miss pivoted to Pete Golding. Auburn nabbed Alex Golesh, and Kentucky went with Bluegrass State native Will Stein.
Arkansas either landed or got stuck with Ryan Silverfield. You can be the judge.
The Hogs and Tiger resume their Thanksgiving weekend series this year. When Texas A&M and Missouri moved into the league, the Tigers and Razorbacks were paired with them in the season finale. That spot is now occupied by Texas and Texas A&M, so LSU-Arkansas is it.
For now, no more Fridays. It’ll be a Saturday morning showdown from Fayetteville.
GOT THEIR GUY?
I think Arkansas has made a couple of really good hires in the last 20 years.
Bobby Petrino reached heights not seen in Fayetteville since the old Southwest Conference days. His 2011 team was legitimately good. It just ran into two stellar squads in Alabama and LSU. But that team showed up in Baton Rouge the day after Thanksgiving 10-1 and ranked third in the country.
We know how that all ended.
Bret Beilema had a ton of success at Wisconsin and is doing the same at Illinois, not exactly two blue bloods. His climb at Arkansas was real, 3-8 to 7-5 to 8-4. Then a 1-7 SEC mark showed up in year four, and they pulled the plug. That probably wasn’t wise.
Chad Morris flopped spectacularly. Sam Pittman roared, relatively speaking, out of the blocks and stalled. The Razorbacks are 4-20 in their last 24 SEC games.
Silverfield’s record at Memphis wasn’t all that special. He was 50-24 overall and 27-21 in Conference USA play. His Tigers never finished as high as second in the league. He did beat Arkansas in a regular season game. That may have been enough.
Winning at Arkansas has been a tough chore. It’s now Silverfield’s.
RETREAD RON
Ron Roberts is becoming one of those well-traveled SEC defensive coordinators. Will Muschamp has seemingly coached at half the schools in league. John Chavis checked four boxes. DJ Durkin has been at Florida, Ole Miss, A&M and now Auburn.
After stints as the defensive coordinator at Auburn and Florida, Roberts has landed at Arkansas. Louisiana football fans will know him from his time at Southeastern as well as ULL.
Last year’s Florida defense finished 12th in the SEC in scoring defense and 13th in total defense. They were 14th against the run and 13th in completion percentage allowed. It wasn’t a great unit, but neither was the Florida offense. That’s why the house got cleaned in Gainesville.
Arkansas was 122nd nationally in total defense last year, so there wasn’t much to work with when the staff got to town.
KJ OR AJ?
Silverfield has to settle on a quarterback. He’s got two initialed options, KJ Jackson and AJ Hill.
Jackson is the likely choice. He’s a 6-foot-4 southpaw who is actually home grown by Pittman and Petrino. He was a four-star recruit in 2024, and he’s played in six games over two seasons on The Hill.
The Montgomery, AL., native has some wheels and a good arm. He’s just lost the advantage he would have had in knowing Petrino’s system. He’s back to square one with everyone else learning what Silverfield and offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey want.
AJ Hill may have the leg up there as he comes to Arkansas from Memphis where he was recruited by Silverfield. ESPN called Hill the No. 4 quarterback in the nation when he signed at Memphis. He’s also 6-foot-4 and is considered an extremely accurate quarterback with really good athleticism.
Both options have similar skillsets, so it’s not as if the coaching staff has to pick one in early August to tailor the offense around. Both can get reps in the scheme, and the best man can win. It needs to happen sooner rather than later, though, because a road trip to Utah comes in Week 2, and Georgia comes to Reynolds Razorback Stadium the next week.
